Grev Axel (2001) - Frödin and Gråbøl pull laughter from 18th century-set crazy-comedy

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Star Peter Frödin looks silly before a woman in a chastity belt on this DVD cover for Søren Fauli's Grev Axel

In late 18th century Denmark a performing actor without much luck steals a man's pony and learns that said man was about to become a count. He swiftly assumes the man's identity and suddenly becomes a popular man of means and power.

Grev Axel is written by Anders Thomas Jensen (Men & Chicken/Mænd og Høns (2015)) and directed by Søren Fauli (Antenneforeningen (1999)). The titles means 'count Axel'.
The film launches crazy comedy in the Mel Brooks vein, though with a clear Danish style  and engaged performances all the way around:
Peter Frödin (Grethe (2016-17)) and Sofie Gråbøl (Flickering Lights/Blinkende Lygter (2000)) are tremendous.
The film would have benefited from a larger budget, and its script is clearly politely structured to follow the 'three act handbook', which isn't a compliment in this case.

Related post:

Søren Fauli: How to Get Rid of the Others/Hvordan Vi Slipper Af med De Andre (2007) - A generally awful Danish surreal comedy turkey (co-star)

Watch a scene from the film here, which is regrettably without subtitles but hysterically funny if you understand Danish

Cost: 13.5 mil. DKK, approximately 2.03 mil. $
Box office: 348k $
= Box office disaster (returned 0.17 times its cost)
[Grev Axel premiered 6 April (Denmark) and runs 90 minutes. The film was supported with a sum of money from the Danish Film Institute. It sold 67,468 tickets in production country Denmark. The listed gross, - only from there, - makes for an average ticket prize of 5.15 $. The film was not theatrically released elsewhere. The film won 2/5 Robert award nominations (Denmark's Oscar). Fauli returned with Polle Fiction (2002). Frödin returned in En Kort En Lang (2001); Gråbøl in Livsforsikringen (2003, short), Nikolaj og Julie (2002-03) and theatrically in Lad De Små Børn... (2004). 645 IMDb users have given Grev Axel a 5.5/10 average rating.]

What do you think of Grev Axel?

How to Get Rid of the Others/Hvordan Vi Slipper Af med De Andre (2007) - A generally awful Danish surreal comedy turkey

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A hit list of society's unwanted, a helicopter carrying a disabled person in a harness and two well-known Danish actors line up on this game poster for Anders Rønnow Klarlund's How to Get Rid of the Others

A new military law has taken effect in the kingdom of Denmark, which demands that citizens who are mainly an expense for the country and don't contribute beneficially at all are executed.

How to Get Rid of the Others is written by the also co-starring Rasmus Botoft (The Gift/Gaven (2008)) and co-writer/director Anders Rønnow Klarlund (Strings (2004)).
What little amount of fun there is to be had with this surreal satirical comedy, - which comes from veteran actors Søren Pilmark (The Last King/Birkebeinerne (2016)) and Tommy Kenter (Skibet i Skilteskoven (1992), TV-series) and the grotesque content, - pales in the context of a fatal combination of the dialog and script in general, acting (apart from the two mentioned actors) and photography - all of very poor quality. Klarlund perhaps tries to compensate by making the film very loud, full of screaming and yelling, but it helps naught: This very expletive-heavy concoction fails miserably.
The point to a big African element in the plot, - along with possibly other points which the obtuse creator duo had envisioned, - are lost in a case of a simply botched job here. How to Get Rid of the Others is a strange morass.

Related post:

2007 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2007 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I] 

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: Unclear, - perhaps 7.3 mil. DKK, (7,300 DKK is reported on IMDb, which must be a mistake and likely should have been 7,300,000 DKK), or approximately 1.15 mil. $
Box office: Unknown - but seemingly only around 1.2 mil. DKK, or approximately 0.19 mil. $
= Uncertain - but likely a box office disaster (seemingly returned approximately 0.16 times the cost)
[How to Get Rid of the Others premiered 26 January (Denmark) and runs 94 minutes. It was shot in Nørrebro, Copenhagen, Denmark. It sold 13,855 tickets in its production country Denmark, which only makes up a gross of around 1.2 mil. DKK. It was released in 5 other markets, 3 of which were only at festivals. No information on its performance there is available. It was nominated for 2 Robert awards (Denmark's Oscar). Klarlund returned with The Secret Society of Fine Arts (2012), an experimental still-photo-based film, which is the filmmaker's last to date. Pilmark returned in The Taste of Hair/De Kaldte Os Frisører (2007, short), Mr. Poxycat & Co. (2007, TV-series) and theatrically in The Early Years: Erik Nietzsche Part 1/De Unge År: Erik Nietzsche Sagaen Del 1 (2007). 980 IMDb users have given How to Get Rid of the Others a 6.0/10 average rating.]

What do you think of How to Get Rid of the Others?